Chariton – författare

Chaereas and Callirhoe . . . is the earliest Greek romantic novel the text of which has been completely preserved; hence it is among the first ancestors of modern European fiction. In this lively tale of adventure, a nobly born heroine is kidnapped across the seas from Syracuse to Asia Minor, where her beauty causes many complications and she is finally rescued by her dashing lover. This book in antiquity took the place of such stories as Dumas and Sabatini have written for later generations.

An ancient Greek tale of romance and adventure.Chariton’s Callirhoe, subtitled “Love Story in Syracuse,” is the oldest extant novel. It is a fast-paced historical romance with ageless charm. Chariton narrates the adventures of an exceptionally beautiful young bride named Callirhoe, beginning with her abduction by pirates—adventures that take her as far as the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes and involve shipwrecks, several ardent suitors, an embarrassing pregnancy, the hazards of war, and a happy ending. Animated dialogue captures dramatic situations, and the novelist takes us on picturesque travels. His skill makes us enthralled spectators of plots and counterplots, at trials and a crucifixion, inside a harem, among the admiring crowd at weddings, and at battles on land and sea. This enchanting tale is here made available for the first time in an English translation facing the Greek text. In his Introduction G. P. Goold establishes the book’s date in the first century AD and relates it to other ancient fiction.

Here in one convenient volume are the two earliest examples of the ancient Greek novel.